


Steal A Bed With Me

by theweddingofthefoxes



Category: Dredd (2012), Star Wars - All Media Types
Genre: Alcohol, Budding relationships, M/M, background armitage, come stains
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-03
Updated: 2017-12-03
Packaged: 2019-02-09 22:03:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,849
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12897777
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/theweddingofthefoxes/pseuds/theweddingofthefoxes
Summary: Bren (Techie) invites his friend Matt over while he cat-sits for his brother Armitage. They haven't even kissed yet...but all of that could change pretty soon.





	Steal A Bed With Me

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Porgmother](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Porgmother/gifts).



Bren stood in the kitchen, sliding the toe of one socked foot along the immaculate linoleum as he read the list of "Things To Remember" that Armitage had left him. 

_  
Millicent is to be given three small servings of food each day. Stir a tablespoon of tuna from the can into the wet food. She prefers her meals to be warmed for 15 seconds in the microwave and that there be ice cubes in her water dish...._

There was more, about where she liked to be petted and how Bren ought to sit on the couch so Millicent could climb into his lap and accept those pettings, but Bren was already rolling his eyes so hard that it was hurting his head. He had only agreed to spend the weekend pampering his brother's obscenely spoiled cat because he'd gotten Armitage to concede to letting him have a friend over while he did. Well, a 'friend'. 

Where did he really stand with Matt, anyway? The things he did with Matt weren't like the things he did with his other friends. For all of Matt's masculine posturing, for all of the gym selfies he put on Instagram with hashtags like "#swolegoals", and the way he lashed out at men he considered competition, subtle as a betta fish, he was downright cuddly with Bren. Being around Bren was like a break from the world, Matt had told him as much while they watched Law & Order or played MarioKart together, often practically in one another's laps. They hadn't kissed or anything, but they'd napped on the sofa in Bren's apartment, and that had been almost as good....

Bren's phone buzzed, the message from Matt as blunt as ever.

_I'm pretty sure the doorman at this rich people building thinks I'm here to beg for change. What's the apartment number again?_

_14C. I'm up here. The cat hasn't even come out of hiding yet._

No response, but that was because Matt was presumably making his way up. Bren had time enough to prepare the first round of warmed food for Millicent and set it down before the doorbell rang -- the tone played the first eight notes of Ode to Joy, something that Matt did not fail to remark upon.

"Your brother is too much," he said with a grin, making his way inside and setting his backpack on the floor of the foyer. "I imagine this whole place is going to be like that..."

"You're not wrong. Staying the night?" He hoped he sounded properly casual, asking this -- Matt had stayed the night at his apartment once, but they were both absolutely exhausted, and there really hadn't been any opportunity to get into anything. Maybe tonight would be different. 

"You said we'd be drinking, and I wasn't planning to take the train back half-sloshed."

"Smart." Bren moved back out into the kitchen to see if Millicent had emerged to start on her dinner -- God only knew what Armitage would do to him if his precious cat refused to eat. "The bar Armie always takes me to is like, a block away. We'll manage to crawl back here all right, I think."

"Sounds like a plan -- oh, hello, cat--" Matt started towards Millie, who had finally come out to eat, in a gesture that unfortunately pretty closely resembled a lunge. The cat scrambled out of the room and back to safety under Armitage's bed, and Matt gave a half-offended bark of laughter. "Well, I guess doesn't want to meet me."

"She doesn't really _like_ anybody except Armie. Don't take it personally." 

"I'll change her mind. One day."

Matt gave himself a tour through the rest of the apartment -- the public spaces, anyway -- as Bren tied his hair back into a loose ponytail and buttoned up a nice thick cardigan, listening to Matt's commentary on the finery. "How much LaCroix does your brother drink in a day? My god."

"Are you poking around the fridge?"

"I'm not _taking_ anything."

"You can have a LaCroix if you want."

"I'd rather drink paint." Bren walked back into the kitchen and saw Matt bent over the lowest shelf in the fridge, seemingly counting the cans. He stood when he realized Bren was there, though. "But a beer would be even better. Ready?"

"Let's go." He flicked off the light and peered back behind him, looking for the telltale glint of the hiding cat's eyes. "Bye, Millie, be good..."

They walked down to the elevator and then out to the street so close that they might as well have been arm-in-arm. It was cold enough to snow, but there wasn't a cloud in the sky, and a few stars bright enough to pierce through the light pollution twinkled overhead. Matt was telling a story about one of his coworkers, complete with voice imitations, as they headed down the block past the cluster of fancy apartment buildings -- worlds above the studio where Bren lived just off the campus of the university where he was now a graduate assistant. In truth, Bren preferred smaller spaces and more casual, familiar places, not a neighborhood as fancy as this one, where it seemed like everyone had a BMW and a Rolex watch. But it was nice to vacation in his brother's universe for awhile...

"Is this is?" 

Bren glanced up, moving some loose strands of hair out of his face. "That's the one," he confirmed.

"Will they smell the poor on us?"

"Matt, come on. It's happy hour and it's actually not bad at all." He pulled Matt by the jacket into the bar and got them a booth in the corner that he preferred, where he could look out the window at people on the street walking their dogs or catching Ubers. Bren started off with a vodka cranberry while Matt ordered a Guinness. 

"It's practically food, you know? Guinness."

"What do you mean?"

"It's where the peasants got their nutrients. Back in the old days. They didn't have clean water or good food but they had Guinness and that was what kept people alive."

"Is that so?"

"I think so." Matt ran a hand through his curls, his nose still pink from the cold. "Something like that. Do they have snacks here?"

"Wait, hold on, I thought all you needed was a Guinness to survive," Bren laughed.

"I mean, sure, but I'm not gonna say no to some nachos or something. Or whatever they serve here. Fois gras?"

"They have good flatbreads." Bren could hardly take his eyes off Matt, layered in his thick shirt and army jacket, as Matt nudged his glasses up his nose to properly examine the menu. The backpack sitting in the foyer was heavily on Bren's mind, with clothes for the next day because Matt was _staying the night_ , and he'd see Matt with his shirt off, probably, and....

"Let's get one."

The drinks arrived, the flatbread order was placed, and Matt asked a question, his face so pleasantly mischievous, that seemed to be psychically grabbed out of Bren's head. "So, does your brother know I'm crashing?"

"Oh? Uh-- no, of course not." Bren just narrowly avoided choking on his drink at that. "I told him you were coming over, though, but that's all..."

"Well, I promise to behave. Won't wreck the good china or anything." Matt's smile became even more impish. "Do you have any other secrets from Armitage?"

Bren gave a snort. "God, are you kidding? Of course I do."

Matt sat up, pleased. "Like what? Tell me."

"He doesn't know about my tattoo."

"You have a tattoo?"

"Hardly anybody's seen it."

"I want to see it."

Bren giggled. "I can't show you _here_."

That got Matt sitting up so straight, it was like he was trying to crack his back. "What, it's that kind of tattoo?"

"No, not--God, Matt, not like, dirty or anything. I'd just have to like, undress more than I want to in this bar." He pointed to his side, right below his hip. "It's right here. When I'm in pajamas I can show you."

"What is it of?"

Bren hesitated, almost tempted to make Matt wait until they were home to let him find out, but then changed his mind. "A fox."

"A fox, huh?" Bren nodded as he took another sip. "And your brother has no idea?"

"None at all."

"When did you get it?"

"Right after undergrad graduation. It's the only thing I've ever bought on impulse. Armie gave me some money and I saved most of it, but I wanted to treat myself to something that was....mine. You know? Just mine."

"Yeah, totally." Matt smiled again. "I'd like to see it. Once we get back. And you tend to the princess and everything. What if she's pissed in your brother's bed?"

"What, like, because she's mad at him?"

"He ditched her for a whole weekend."

"I think she knows better. But I'd be lying if I said I didn't think it'd be funny..."

Back at Armitage's apartment, it was clear that Millicent had behaved herself. The food bowl was empty and Millie herself had moved to lie in loaf position on the primly-made bed itself, and didn't even dart away when Bren sat down next to her. "No piss, right?" Bren asked. She blinked slowly at him, then closed her eyes again. "Thought not. You wouldn't make your dad mad like that."

"You're talking to her too?"

Matt stood in the doorway of the bedroom, changed into a pair of sweatpants advertising some college basketball team that Bren had never heard of and a plain black tank top that put all the focus on Matt's arms. He wasn't quite unsteady -- he could hold his Guinness better than that -- but he seemed comfortable leaning against the doorframe instead of standing on his own. "I've got to," Bren joked. "It's in the instructions. She'll get sad if she's not told how great she is all the time."

"You're an awfully good babysitter." He cocked his head. "I still want to see that tattoo. If you don't mind showing me, of course."

Clearly, Matt had expected Bren to hop up, head to the guest room and change into his own pajamas before coming back out to show it off, but the drinks and the already-mounting excitement had steered Bren down a different path. Instead, he shimmied out of his jeans right where he lay, on Tidge's bed, the movement irritating Millie enough to make her stand up, hop down and trot out into the hallway, her tail brushing Matt's leg. 

"God almighty, Bren, you're not interested in subtlety, huh?"

"You said you wanted to see it," Bren answered, a little embarrassed but tremendously pleased. If he was warm, Matt was clearly warmer, the way the edges of his wide ears turned strawberry-red. 

The fox had been tattooed in a painted style that reminded Matt of calligraphy. "Like it was just -- freshly applied," Matt said, coming closer, close enough to touch it, trace his finger along the graceful lines of the tattoo. "It's gorgeous."

"Yeah?" Bren asked, feeling far woozier right here and now than he had after leaving the bar. Lying on the bed, looking at up Matt, whose hand was _on_ him, practically had him seeing stars, and he couldn't say anything more coherent than that. 

"You know what else I think?" Matt asked. "I think you orchestrated this whole thing, you sneaky..." And then he dipped his head, kissing the tattoo so suddenly that Bren just gasped, arched his back as though jolted by electricity. "...little fox, you."

Bren grabbed awkwardly out in front of him, trying to just get a handful of Matt to pull nearer, to get them lined up enough to kiss. What a relief if was to not have to wait, to get the signal that he should move full speed ahead -- and Matt was working with him, clambering up so they could kiss for real this time. It was fast and hot and a little bad at first, too much tongue and teeth, but then they found the rhythm they both liked, and the bee-stung feeling around Bren's lips was everything he could have wanted and more.

"You taste really good," Matt said, after a moment, and Bren laughed. They kissed some more, and then Matt added -- "Aren't you going to tell me I do too?"

"Don't like Guinness," Bren whispered, and Matt groaned, grinning. "But I like you. So that wins. You taste really good too."

"I'll get something else next time."

"No, mm--no, it's -- nutritious--" He trailed off because Matt was nipping at his neck now, not quite hard enough to leave marks but definitely hard enough to make his presence known. "Matt, you're right, I really wanted you to do this, to get in my bed...well, it's not my bed, but--"

"Fuck, you're right!" Matt laughed, but didn't climb off. If anything, he seemed strangely invigored by the illicitness, and Bren couldn't really blame him. He'd have time to run the laundry and re-make the bed if he needed to, Armitage would never have to know they'd fucked in it-- if it got to that point-- which it seemed to be rapidly approaching. Maybe? Maybe not. A strange feeling of intense satisfaction had overcome him, the feeling that no matter what happened, he'd be happy with the outcome, especially when Matt wound his fingers into Bren's hair so he could pull Bren close as they kissed again. 

Matt was on top of him properly now, and Bren wasn't in a good position to reach for his groin, but that made things even more maddeningly delicious, because he could feel how hard Matt was -- already! -- and then Matt was rocking, just a little bit, just testing Bren's reaction. "Can I tell you something?" Matt asked, and Bren nodded vigorously. "I've masturbated like, a million times thinking about -- exactly this. You inviting me over, fuck, and like....just inviting me into bed..."

"Maybe we have a psychic bond," Bren answered, pleased at the thought of it. "You put that thought out into the universe and it's coming true...."

Was the way that Matt looked at him after he said that Bren's favorite thing about that evening? Or was it the way that Matt groaned out Bren's name when he came, panting it out, his hair all in his face and a gorgeous flush going up his neck? (In the morning, Bren would have a moment of deciding the best part was the fact that their come washed out of the blanket without a trace, and that he was able to remake the bed perfectly.) After they'd teased orgasms out of one another -- not really that difficult, the way they'd both been champing at the bit, waiting for the opportunity to get into each other's pants -- Bren felt Matt's hand down on his hip again, re-tracing the fox.

"Your brother doesn't have like, cameras in here, right?"

Bren laughed.

"No, he's not that kind of guy."

"I don't think he'd want to watch that."

"He wouldn't." Still, the thrill of keeping this secret was such fun, the way an oyster must feel hiding a pearl. "He's not gonna know."

"We can fuck other places, too, you know."

"Of course," Bren agreed, kissing Matt's shoulder. "Anytime you like."

"But like. Not just that."

"More than that?"

"Only if you want, I mean--" Matt's voice took on a slightly shrill tone, like he was suddenly worried that he'd screwed up. "If you'd rather just, you know..."

"It's a lot of fun, but I'd like. More than that. It sounds like you do."

"Yeah?"

Bren hid his face against Matt's shoulder. "Yeah, I'd like to--oh!" Bren suddenly sat up, and Matt's face twisted in confusion. 

"What?"

"Look."

Millie had hopped up on the bedspread, and her huge fluffy tail had tickled against Bren's bare thigh. Instead of running away at the movement and sound of Matt and Bren, she seemed to want to be included in the loving pile. She plopped herself down between them and curled up, purring like a lawnmower. 

"Your brother's gonna be extra mad now," Matt said, reaching out to touch one of her feet-- she withdrew it beneath her, still purring. "First you ruin his blankets and then you steal the love of his cat."

"He's just going to have to deal."

Millicent flexed the claws on her other front paw, kneading the blanket, eyes closed in rapturous contentment. "Were you gonna say something, Bren?" Matt asked, scratching the cat under the chin -- this time, she didn't pull away. 

"You know what I was gonna say," Bren teased.

"I do. But it'd be nice to hear it."

Bren pushed a palmful of Matt's curls back from his forehead. "We're dating now. Boyfriends. Together. You can put it on Facebook and everything. And we'll probably fuck again soon, but before that we'll watch Colbert. Yes?"

This--this look on Matt's face now, that was what ended up becoming Bren's favorite part of the night.

"Yes, of course."

**Author's Note:**

> A return to form for your marshmallow! Just wanted to write something fun and fluffy, especially for someone who is so sweet and wonderful and encouraging.


End file.
